Mak haste an’ turn King David owre, And lilt wi’ holy clangor;O’ double verse come gie us four, An’ skirl up the Bangor:This day the kirk kicks up a stoure; Nae mair the knaves shall wrang her,For Heresy is in her pow’r, And gloriously she’ll whang her Wi’ pith this day.

There, try his mettle on the creed, An’ bind him down wi’ caution,That stipend is a carnal weed He taks by for the fashion;And gie him o’er the flock, to feed, And punish each transgression;Especial, rams that cross the breed, Gie them sufficient threshin; Spare them nae day.

Nae mair by Babel’s streams we’ll weep, To think upon our Zion;And hing our fiddles up to sleep, Like baby-clouts a-dryin!Come, screw the pegs wi’ tunefu’ cheep, And o’er the thairms be tryin;Oh, rare to see our elbucks wheep, And a’ like lamb-tails flyin Fu’ fast this day.

Lang, Patronage, with rod o’ airn, Has shor’d the Kirk’s undoin;As lately Fenwick, sair forfairn, Has proven to its ruin: 8Our patron, honest man! Glencairn, He saw mischief was brewin;An’ like a godly, elect bairn, He’s waled us out a true ane, And sound, this day.

Now Robertson 9 harangue nae mair, But steek your gab for ever;Or try the wicked town of Ayr, For there they’ll think you clever;Or, nae reflection on your lear, Ye may commence a shaver;Or to the Netherton 10 repair, An’ turn a carpet weaver Aff-hand this day.

Mu’trie 11 and you were just a match, We never had sic twa drones;Auld Hornie did the Laigh Kirk watch, Just like a winkin baudrons,And aye he catch’d the tither wretch, To fry them in his caudrons;But now his Honour maun detach, Wi’ a’ his brimstone squadrons, Fast, fast this day.

See, see auld Orthodoxy’s faes She’s swingein thro’ the city!Hark, how the nine-tail’d cat she plays! I vow it’s unco pretty:There, Learning, with his Greekish face, Grunts out some Latin ditty;And Common-sense is gaun, she says, To mak to Jamie Beattie Her plaint this day.

But there’s Morality himsel’, Embracing all opinions;Hear, how he gies the tither yell, Between his twa companions!See, how she peels the skin an’ fell, As ane were peelin onions!Now there, they’re packed aff to hell, An’ banish’d our dominions, Henceforth this day.

O happy day! rejoice, rejoice! Come bouse about the porter!Morality’s demure decoys Shall here nae mair find quarter:Mackinlay, Russell, are the boys That heresy can torture;They’ll gie her on a rape a hoyse, And cowe her measure shorter By th’ head some day.

Come, bring the tither mutchkin in, And here’s—for a conclusion—To ev’ry New Light 12 mother’s son, From this time forth, Confusion!If mair they deave us wi’ their din, Or Patronage intrusion,We’ll light a spunk, and ev’ry skin, We’ll rin them aff in fusion Like oil, some day.

Note 1. Alluding to a scoffing ballad which was made on the admission of the late reverend and worthy Mr. Lihdsay to the “Laigh Kirk.”—R. B. [back]Note 2. Rev. James Oliphant, minister of Chapel of Ease, Kilmarnock. [back]Note 3. Rev. John Russell of Kilmarnock. [back]Note 4. Rev. James Mackinlay. [back]Note 5. Genesis ix. 22.—R. B. [back]Note 6. Numbers xxv. 8.—R. B. [back]Note 7. Exodus iv. 52.—R. B. [back]Note 8. Rev. Wm. Boyd, pastor of Fenwick. [back]Note 9. Rev. John Robertson. [back]Note 10. A district of Kilmarnock. [back]Note 11. The Rev. John Multrie, a “Moderate,” whom Mackinlay succeeded. [back]Note 12. “New Light” is a cant phrase in the west of Scotland for those religious opinions which Dr. Taylor of Norwich has so strenuously defended.—R. B. [back]